Witness, 1997

The text for this cast iron bridge parapet in Church Street, Bilston, was composed using tape recordings from an oral history project conducted by Helen Sykes, looking back at the local steel industry which came to an end in the 1980’s. The work was commissioned by Wolverhampton MB. This is the text you can find on a plaque at the bridge:

WITNESS BETTINA FURNEE 1997 BRIDGE PARAPET IN CAST IRON THE WORDING IS COMPOSED FROM VERBATIM EXTRACTS OF STORIES OF BILSTON LIFE AS TOLD BY ARTHUR BULLOCK, STEELWORKER, JOSEPHINE BEECHER, MIDWIFE, LILA LANGFORD, WHO WORKED AT SANKEY’S AND IN LOCAL PUBS, JIM SPEAKMAN, CHEMICAL WORKER, EILEEN MORGAN, SHOP WORKER, AND IRENE EVERITT, SHOP AND FACTORY WORKER

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Cast iron bridge parapet with texts from oral history recordings, Bilston, West Midlands